Wildfires rage across US; prompt evacuations, highway shutdown

 July 25 (IANS) Wildfires continue raging across the western United States, prompting thousands to evacuate, together with the highways' shutdown. The situation further worsened on Wednesday, reports Xinhua news agency. The Durkee Fire in Oregon State shut down Interstate 84 in the eastern part of the state in both directions on Tuesday between Ontario and Baker City, the state's Department of Transportation said, warning that "the fire is advancing rapidly towards the highway in multiple locations in the Farewell Bend area." Durkee, the current largest wildfire in Oregon, was sparked by lightning and discovered in the morning of July 17. It has burned through over 239,000 acres with zero per cent containment as of Wednesday. Level three evacuations are in place in Baker and Malheur counties due to the Durkee and Cow Valley fires. There are currently 115 active fires in the state, according to its wildfire tracker. In Washington State, a fire sparked on Monday near Naches and led to mandatory evacuations, while another burning near Bickelton also led to evacuations and threatened a natural gas plant. In California, the Apache Fire was sparked on Tuesday evening in Ventura County in the Los Padres National Forest. The 250-acre blaze led the county to order evacuations for residences on Apache Canyon Road, local fire officials said. The US Forest Service said in a release on Tuesday that millions of acres of national forest lands across the states of Oregon and Washington are "continuing to see record-breaking dry timber conditions," coupled with lightning storms, that spur "rapid wildfire growth." --IANS int/sd/kvd